News & Events

by
Joe Kochan
September 26, 2016

Today, US Ignite announced that four additional cities have joined the Smart Gigabit Communities program, a network of communities that have each committed to leveraging next-generation smart city and Internet technologies to keep pace with the world’s rapidly changing information technology-driven economy. US Ignite is a nonprofit organization that fosters the development and deployment of advanced networking applications that will profoundly change the way Americans live, work and learn.

US Ignite welcomes the following cities to the Smart Gigabit Communities Program:

Adelaide, Australia (the first international city to join the program)

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Salisbury, North Carolina

Washington, District of Columbia

The Smart Gigabit Communities Program, which is funded largely by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was first announced during the launch of the Smart Cities Initiative last September. Working in partnership with US Ignite, each Smart Gigabit Community will develop two gigabit applications or gigabit public services that provide advanced technology solutions to issues faced by that community. Each city also agrees to share those applications with the other communities in the network.

“In addition to being one of the most livable places in the world, South Australia is quickly becoming one of the most connected,” said the Honorable Kyam Maher, South Australia’s Minister for Science and Information Economy. “Our economy is global, competitive and interconnected and the potential power of combined talents between nations could greatly improve the amount of knowledge and possible solutions to many of our communities’ challenges. Adelaide is home to Australia’s largest defense projects and through this new partnership, we can open the door to new opportunities in areas of manufacturing, software, electronics and engineering with our US counterparts.”

“Solving society’s most vexing problems requires global thinking,” said US Ignite Chief Operating Officer Joe Kochan. “That’s why we’re pleased to have these four new cities, including our first international city, Adelaide, join the Smart Gigabit Communities program. This project will accelerate the development of next-generation applications while building a critical mass of hyper-connected communities which will have ripple effects: if advanced networks are fast, responsive, and widely available, companies can and will produce more capable applications to run on those networks, which in turn brings new users online and increases use among those who already subscribe to broadband services.”